Google Ads Rebranding

UA

General

Why the Name Change?

You may have noticed something a little different when you logged into your Google AdWords account recently. Actually, you may have seen hints at a change coming for a few weeks now. There was a little blue pop-up bar at the top of your screen announcing that Google was cooking up something new to release that may have caught your attention. Well, as of July 24th, this much anticipated change has come and the old Google Adwords has officially been retired to usher in a new age of Google Ads and a more unified platform to manage and use all of your advertising needs. After 18 years, Google decided to revamp and rebrand the name to better group, display and define how the company has grown, changed and shifted in sync with the way the internet is used.

As you already know, the internet is not what is was two decades ago when Google released its ad campaigns. While the simple concept of helping people and businesses connect online is still at the heart of Google Ads, the way that this will happen, how easy it is to manage and how it is arranged is the basis of the rebranding. Going online almost twenty years ago was an entirely different, almost exciting experience and privilege. Today, it is an almost constant, necessary function in our daily lives. Since mobile internet has entered our lives with the reveal of smartphones, the world has had to adjust to this new normal. Whether we are sending messages, looking up phone numbers, searching for restaurants or planning important events, most of us cannot imagine going an entire day without our smartphones by our side, and Google knows this.

Google is aware that the internet is rapidly growing, expanding its uses and purposes constantly. As we continue to download apps and use our phones for more than just phone calls, we are simultaneously expanding the range for the global market. Just think about it – if the average person is on social media and search engine sites, as well as emailing and playing games, those are all platforms that can be marketed on. Just as you have had to keep up with these new areas of marketing, so has Google. Because of all these changes to the way we use the internet, Google took it upon itself to reorganize, recategorize and rename the advertising department to help you better navigate and access all of the resources you need to become a successful business.

What’s New in Google Ads?

So what’s all the big fuss over, and has everything completely changed? Well, not everything. Of course, with rebranding you know that the major change can be seen in the new name – Google Ads. But the name isn’t the only thing that is going to look different in the product interface and on billing documents – the logos themselves have changed. What’s a new name without a new logo? While the logo still seems to form the slanted pillars of a capital letter “A”, you’ll notice the color and styling changes.

The new name and logo are accompanied by new URLs for your needs. The new URLs you need to know are:

ads.google.com for Google Ads

Support.google.com/AdWords for Help Center

Though, for now, if you type in the old URLs like adwords.google.com, you will be kindly redirected to the newly restyled Google Ads Page. You’ll be greeted by the little yellow box at the top letting you know that Google Ads is the rebranded page for Google AdWords.

With the update, you’ll also have to reorient yourself with where things are. Those of you using the specific advertising products DoubleClick and Google Analytics 360 Suite will find that they have been combined under the Google Marketing Platform. Under this umbrella, you have a wide array of marketing tools at your disposal.

New for Small Businesses

GoogleAds is bringing out a new program specifically for small businesses. We already know that Google Ads has been successful with big businesses and major brands, but now small businesses will feel the love and support with Smart campaigns, designed specifically to meet small business needs and help them get their business running and their name out there without losing time and energy on the analytic side of the business. Google prides itself on being a company that listens to its customers and users to create better programs and tools to meet people’s actual needs. Google will work with you on your Smart campaigns to address your small business concerns. They’ll take your feedback and analyze it, in order to make adjustments where needed.

One thing Google has mentioned that really helps to propel your company is images. I think we can all get on board and agree that a large majority of the population is drawn to and would prefer to see a quick image ad rather than reading descriptions. Google knows this too and later this year promises to roll out yet another tool for you and your small business. Are you feeling the love from Google yet? The newly unveiled tool will be Image Picker. Image Picker will allow you to choose from Google’s own selection or from images you upload. With this tool, and Google’s generous help, you’ll be able to work with text and image combinations that will help generate the best results.

Google has also pledged to help you get your ad out to the people who will be the most interested in it. Getting the right audience for your advertisements can be a tricky business, and it can be difficult to actually narrow down the population and zone in on the right groups. But Google has taken care of that brainwork for you and will help you to create an attractive product ad and gear it toward the right people. This way, your advertisement won’t just be a shot in the dark, but a calculated lunge at a population that is already on the hunt for what you have to offer. All of this is offered in Google Smart campaigns and, while Image Picker is not yet available, all other features have been made accessible in the US and will be moving to the global economy by the end of this year.

Enterprise Marketing Teams

Sounds great for small businesses, right? They get their own campaigns, but what’s new for enterprise marketing teams? Number one is going to be the unification of the DoubleClick products and Google Analytics 360 Suite. They will now be organized under the Google Marketing Platform for your convenience. Google provides tools to help you better analyze all of your businesses’ information and better create a crisp, clean ad that will appeal to all of your buyers. Within this platform, you will find a data studio, optimization tools, surveys, tag manager, Display and Video 360, and Search Ads 360. These tools are now under the same marketing platform, making it easier for you to use them in tandem. By using the tools together, you get a more accurate picture of your data and how to use it more effectively.

Google advertises that you can create engaging data reports, test your sites and apps using multiple variants, and get reliable opinions from experts who will help you evaluate your site. You can also manage all of your tags; research your target audiences and understand more about what they are seeking, where they are and what you need to do to better reach them; and you’ll be delivered real-time data.

All of these tools are geared to help your enterprise marketing team better connect with customers. While the marketing and shopping world has moved largely online, customer support and interaction have not become obsolete. People still want to see that businesses care about them and their individual needs. Engagement with customers helps your business to grow, and so Google is doing all that it can to offer you the best possible data and information to help you better communicate with your customers and keep them interested and engaged. And, as always, the Google Help Center is there whenever you need them to help you navigate through and work out any issues you may have.

Transparency and Control

You’ve asked for more transparency and control over your Google ads and Google has not only heard you, but sprung into action to make this even more possible for you. With the rebranding, Google has wrapped transparency and data control into one nice package for you. This is not the first step that Google has taken to give you what you want, but just another improvement to better your experience. First Google brought you Ad Settings to allow you to understand why you see certain ads and to manage what is being shown to you. They upgraded this to offer you Why This Ad? and Mute this Ad. These two simple additions helped you get rid of the ads that were cluttering your screen in favor of the advertisements that you would actually enjoy seeing. This did not just help you, but also helped Google understand what is interesting and effective for you and for others. In this way, it helped ads to be tailored and customized, and provided valuable feedback to the brands you love.

Google did not stop there, but just three short years ago wrapped up all of your ad managing needs into your Google Account. This way you could easily manage all of your ad needs from one place. But now Google has stepped up the game once again to bring you the new Ad Settings. In these Ad Settings, you will find more answers to why you are seeing certain ads more often than others. You can scroll through different categories and decide which types of ads to turn off and which to leave on and enable to be shown to you. For example, if you are not interested in viewing soccer ads, you can scroll through and turn off that option. You can also add your age to the information and Google will take that into consideration. You will also see that some ads are shown to you based on your search history. If you have been visiting certain sites frequently, then Google will be happy to show you more ads related to these types of searches.

You can continue to control the ads and decide which are a better fit for you. Why This Ad? is still an option for you to explore, but has been opened to cover all of Google’s products. You may be excited to know that this also includes YouTube. This is particularly refreshing as, over the years, the ads on YouTube have not only increased, but occasionally come without the option to skip through.

More Help for Your Business

Google Ads, like all of Google’s products, were designed to make our lives easier and more enjoyable. Google has been constantly working since its beginning to bring you the most updated information and best possible products based on people’s needs. Can you imagine the world today without Google Search, for instance? Any information we need is just a quick, one-click search or even voice command search away.

Google Ads is just another step to making the technological world easier for us. Simpler advertising solutions are bridging the gap between consumers and businesses alike, and improving the overall experience of running and consuming ads.

If you need help optimizing your Google Ads, we’re happy to help. If you have any further questions regarding the new Google Ads, please feel free to contact us!